"Dude… you just pop up out of nowhere and start talking to yourself." The goat-headed man stared at Doma like he was nuts.
"Haha, got a bit carried away with the thrill of the fight," Doma said, shrugging.
"By the way, do you know where the big-shot gods are at?"
The strange creature eyed Doma for a moment before pointing in a direction.
Following the gesture, Doma spotted an old man sporting a sly grin.
The elderly guy wasn't alone—he had a butler by his side.
Zeus and Hermes were watching Brunhild.
"Thanks and sorry, but I gotta bounce," Doma said with mock sadness, leaving his seat.
'Why's he apologizing like we're buddies or something?'The celestial creature was baffled by Doma's familiarity, considering they'd never met.
But the ice demon ignored the goat-head and headed toward the stands' backstage area.
On his way, he could hear the clash of Lü Bu's attacks and his maniacal laughter.
"I see… Lü Bu must have the upper hand for now." That was good news for Doma.
If he wanted to join Ragnarok, Zeus needed to take the humans seriously and accept his help.
Ideally, Thor would be injured by the time Doma started negotiating with the so-called king of the gods.
"Hey, who are you? You can't just waltz through here without being a participant or a VIP!" Two winged guards blocked Doma's path.
'Yeah, makes sense you can't just stroll around a place like this…'A bummer, but the ice demon wasn't dumb.
He'd already planned for this.
"Whoops… my bad, haha, I didn't know… but heads up! Loki's making a break for it with Aphrodite's underwear!" He pointed over the guards' shoulders.
Doma wasn't sure if this trick would actually work on the angels of the Valkyrie Apocalypse universe.
But he bet on the fact that they weren't angels from the Christian pantheon.
After all, he'd rather snag their hair through cunning than force.
'It's daytime, but I can still use a bit of my power.'Doma's confidence in taking control of the guards wasn't baseless.
The gods in this world were powerful, but not all of them.
Big names like Buddha, Zeus, or Hades weren't exactly common, despite what some fans of this universe might think.
Doma recalled how the Valhalla guards had been wiped out by mere giants, with no real supernatural powers beyond their physical strength.
Divine beings? Just titles.
"What?! Where'd he go?!"
"Hurry! That scum ran off with that divine treasure… *cough*… Aphrodite-sama's underwear!"
Luckily for everyone, the guards seemed genuinely interested in the goddess of love.
A flaw the ice demon wasn't about to judge.
'Gotta say… she's got some serious assets.' Even with his attention split by random thoughts, Doma yanked out strands of hair from both guards.
The Blood Demon Art: Vanity's Paradise currently governed Doma's vector power.
He could use it by force if needed.
He just had to be careful not to overdo it, as ice was trickier to handle due to the high concentration it demanded.
He'd literally have to juggle all three of his powers at once to wield ice in broad daylight.
"Huh?! Why are we looking behind us?"
"You tell me."
The two angels were genuinely confused by their situation but decided to return to their posts.
They didn't even notice Doma standing right in front of them during their little chat.
'Is this how Aizen felt in the Gotei 13?'The question went unanswered, but Doma relished the sense of control.
After that minor hiccup, Doma quickened his pace toward Zeus's VIP seats.
Even though the angels had cost him some time, he'd managed to snag a palace layout from them.
Trading time for info wasn't a total loss.
So, he strode along in high spirits, unaware that another pair of eyes was tracking his every move.
If Doma had caught a glimpse of the owner of those blue eyes, he'd have probably yelled, "Damn it… a trap."
But it didn't matter, because the effeminate-looking boy furrowed his delicate brows slightly, staring at the spot where Doma had just been.
"Is he… the cause of my blindness to fate?"
Nostradamus flashed a mysterious smile before deciding to trail the anomaly from a distance.
(Image)
…
"A rebellion… I… I never would've imagined she'd go that far." Zeus's divine aura filled his VIP room as Doma arrived.
(Image)
'Is this… the power of the current king of the gods?' Doma thought, hesitation creeping in with each step.
Was Doma scared of Zeus?
The answer: obviously not.
Could he beat The Godfather of Cosmos? Hell no.
Doma had faith in his near-century of training, but Zeus was in a whole different league.
'A punch that ignores time… How do you even counter that?'Forget that cheated attack—Zeus's speed was insane, and his physical strength far outstripped Doma's.
Even at night, the ice demon wouldn't bet on his ice or vector manipulation to win.
The gap was just too massive.
"THIS IS THE MOST EXCITING THING SINCE THE BIG BANG!!" Zeus's exclamation snapped Doma out of his thoughts.
He'd seen this scene in the manga, but witnessing it live was something else entirely.
"Brunhilde *smooch*!" The king of the gods was blowing kisses at the Valkyrie across the amphitheater.
The comedic scene, paired with Brunhilde's disgusted expression, drew a genuine laugh from Doma.
(Image)
"*Cough* Lord Zeus, we have a guest," Hermes said in a polite, refined tone.
(Image)
Doma glanced at Zeus's most famous accomplice in Greek mythology before shifting his focus back to the old god.
"Who are you?" Zeus's voice boomed right next to him, his golden eyes suddenly inches from Doma's face.
"What?!" Doma blurted out instinctively, stepping back.
He didn't know when it happened, but Zeus had closed the distance between them.
'He barely even transformed…'Doma thought, eyeing the old god.
In the Valkyrie Apocalypse universe, Zeus had four transformation stages:
1. His decrepit old-man state, used day-to-day.
2. The state Doma was seeing: Zeus altering parts of his body for various purposes, like throwing a massive punch.
3. The state Adam faced in his fight: Zeus could strike beyond time itself.
As for his final form, it was called Adama, named after his late brother. Zeus had barely defeated Adam in that form and preferred not to use it.
"If his second transformation, used just for fun, caught me off guard, then I need to forget about Adam as an opponent and aim for Kojiro or Jack," Doma concluded after some quick analysis.
The idea of asking the System to lower the quest's difficulty crossed his mind, but he dismissed it.
The current difficulty was B+ to S-, meaning he was in a hard-mode quest.
That meant the System wouldn't offer any help, like equalizing the world's laws or freezing time in the KNY world.
Doma considered a normal difficulty, which would've let him benefit from law equalization between KNY and ROR.
Translation: with that trick, he'd be treated as a demon in the Valkyrie universe and could use his powers without restrictions.
'No, now's not the time to waver. Zeus is an anomaly among his peers, and if I negotiate well…' Doma's eyes gleamed at the thought of having a cheated divine army.
"You didn't hear me? I asked a question!" Zeus's golden eyes flared suddenly.
Yet the ice demon didn't panic and pulled a spare fan from his ceremonial attire as a former elder of the Eternal Paradise Faith.
"Sorry for zoning out, Zeus-sama. I'm Doma, and I'd love to get an autograph," he said with an honest tone.
Hermes shot Doma a look that screamed: 'You really think we're buying that a fan sneaked into the VIP area for an autograph?'
Unfortunately for the merchant god, he'd forgotten his father's innate pride.
"Ohoh, I see there are still folks who recognize my greatness in Whalalah!"
"Haha, Zeus-sama is a legend among lady-lovers and men of culture~"
The duo settled in comfortably, completely ignoring Hermes, who was utterly baffled by the situation.
A stranger had shown up and hit it off with his father in mere seconds.
'Am I the problem, or is it the world?'That question would never find an answer.